


The Captain and the Dwarf

by acercrea



Series: All Roads Lead to Milan [1]
Category: Football RPF
Genre: Bromance, Gen, friends - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-18
Updated: 2015-03-18
Packaged: 2018-03-18 10:21:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,651
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3566132
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/acercrea/pseuds/acercrea
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Bastian is just coming back from injury and Xherdan is unhappy with his play time. They aren't really friends, but can they help each other make huge decisions?</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Captain and the Dwarf

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: This is off of my request list, for the Anon who wanted a Schweinsteiger/Shaqiri bromance one-shot. This is set just before So What Do You Think?, but you do not need to read it first.  
> Disclaimer: I do not own anything you recognize, this is just for fun.

I was leaving the practice pitch when I heard the sound of someone dribbling a ball coming from the field. I walked closer and saw Xherdan dribbling in and out of practice dummies, still running drills. I watched the younger man for a while, wondering if I should go down there and see if I could help.

I had just made up my mind when I heard a voice call from behind me, “Basti, there you are. Manu, Fips, Robert, Mario and I are starving, would you like to grab a bite with us?”

“I might catch up with you later, Thomas. I have something to do here first,” I replied over my shoulder.

“Ok, we will save you a spot just in case,” the younger man called, running off to the car park.

“Do you want help?” I asked as I moved to the edge of the pitch, causing Xherdan to jump and look over at me guiltily.

“Oh, Bastian, you startled me. I’m sorry, I know we aren’t supposed to keep training after practice, none of us can afford to get injured, particularly right before international break, but I wanted to try a couple of things,” the Swiss man apologized.

“No, that is fine, I was genuinely wondering if you needed help. I can’t play with you, but I can chase after balls, or let you know if you are pulling something the wrong way,” I offered.

“No, I am not practicing anything specific, I am just practicing,” Xherdan replied vaguely.

“Why?” I asked.

“Because I want to play, and Pep isn’t letting me, so I thought if I put in extra practice, he might see me getting better and play me more,” Xherdan confessed.

“Ah. I see,” I told him. “Here is where I am supposed to put on the captains hat and give you an inspirational speech about how I remember when I was in your shoes, and it will get better, just hang in there, but honestly I am not really sure the captains hat fits me yet. I haven’t had a chance to really wear it yet, and the vice-captains hat is a lot less stressful, plus I am just the vice-captain here. So the vice-captain speech is going to have to do.

“You signed with one of the best teams on the planet. We have an exceptional group of players, most of them stars with their respective national teams, just like you, all wanting to start, just like you. The difference is that most of them have more experience than you do. I am not saying this because I don’t think you are talented, or because I think you deserve to be benched. On most other squads, you would play every game and be in the starting line-up. You are a big fish in a huge pond right now, and you either need to give yourself time to develop, or find a slightly smaller pond. I don’t want you to transfer, but it is like I have been telling Lukas for months, if you think the coach is not going to play you, you have to find one who will.

“You are an asset to our team, I genuinely believe that, but your career has to come first. Extra practice is not going to make you ready, you are already ready; you proved that just by making this squad. You need experience, and part of that experience is sometimes sitting on the bench when you feel you deserve to be in the game,” I finished.

“Really, that is your entire motivational speech?” Xherdan asked.

“What is wrong with it?” I asked.

“You basically just told me that I should transfer because I am not getting play time. You do suck at this captain thing,” Xherdan remarked.

“Hey, it wasn’t that bad. I have been out for months, my motivational speech skills are just rusty, that is all,” I retorted.

“Xherdan, there you are, I have been looking for you everywhere,” a female voice called out.

We both turned to see who had called him. “Hey, Leigh,” Xherdan greeted his assistant/best friend as she stormed over.

“What the hell, you have an interview on the other side of München in half an hour and you haven’t even showered yet,” the petite brunette scolded.

“Sorry, I forgot, I just need 5 minutes to shower then we can go,” Xherdan replied.

“You shower as quickly as you can, I am going to call them and let them know you are going to be late,” she ordered, walking back the way she came, pulling out her phone.

“Ooh, someone is in trouble,” I ribbed him lightly.

“Shut up, Leigh may be terrifying when she is pissed, but she is still my best mate and the best assistant I could ever hope for. She is like a piece of home that I get to take with me wherever I go. Plus, I can trust her not to treat me like I am a star. To her, I am just Danny, the idiot who had a panic attack in her bathroom before his first date because he had no idea if he was supposed to bring the girl flowers or not,” Xherdan replied.

“Seriously, she is gorgeous, mate, you have never been tempted?” I asked.

“No, she is like a little sister to me, we are completely platonic,” he insisted.

“If you say so,” I stated, not really believing him.

He never got to respond because at that moment, Leigh shouted, “Xherdan, don’t make me go back down there.” Which prompted the shorter man to jump up and literally run off to the showers.

With a chuckle I pulled out my phone and dialed a familiar number. When he answered I said, “Thomas, is it too late to join you?”

**

“Hey Captain, how is it going?” Xherdan greeted me a couple of days later in the locker room.

“That is not funny, Fips is going to be back,” I insisted.

“Wow, I was just kidding. Are you ok?” he asked.

“No, I am not ready to be captain. My big advice to you was to transfer to another team. Do you really think I should be trusted with speeches right now? You laughing at me is not helping right now,” I cried.

“Hey, calm down. You have done this before, and you are a natural born leader. Fips is going to be back in a few months and you are going to fill in for him flawlessly until then. You’ll see, after a couple of games it will be like you were never injured,” Xherdan assured.

“Are you sure? I gave you the worst pep talk ever,” I reminded him.

“Yes, I’m sure, don’t be such a Sitzpinkler,” he smacked me upside my head.

“Ow! Oh, you are so going to pay for that, Dummkopf,” I retaliated by hitting him in the shoulder.

“Dummkopf? Are you 5 or just afraid you mom is going to hear you, Warmduscher?” he shoved me playfully.

“Is that how it is going to be, Schweinehund? Really?” I asked.

“Ouch, that one had some bite to it. Are you sure you are not going to get in trouble for using such strong language?” Xherdan questioned.

“Ok, small fry, that is it,” I jumped on him and we wrestled back and forth, at some point falling to the floor.

“Am I interrupting something?” a female voice asked.

We both looked up and saw Leigh standing over us, a disapproving look on her face.

“Nope, just some good old-fashioned male bonding. Want to join us, L?” Xherdan asked, his head still stuck under my arm in a headlock.

“I’ll pass, Danny, thanks though. We should get going if you want to make it to that meeting with your manager,” Leigh informed him drily.

“Right you are L, duty calls. Bastian we will have to pick this up some other time. Let me just get my bag and we can go, Leigh,” Xherdan said, extricating himself from our tangle on the floor.

Leigh and I were silent for a moment until she said, “Look, I don’t know what you said to him that day on the practice pitch, but he has been his old self again. He doesn’t like to say it or show it, but not getting played was getting to him and he has been mopey for weeks. Whatever you said made him more like the old Danny again. So thank you.”

“Oh, um,” I stumbled over my words, not sure how to respond. Leigh was not exactly verbose, unless she was ordering Xherdan around, so for her to say all of that was a big deal. It was probably the most she had ever spoken to me directly. I was about to speak when Xherdan bounced back into the room.

“Ok, I am ready. Let’s go, L,” he spoke, draping an arm over her shoulder.

“Right,” she agreed, then wrinkled her nose at him. “Lose the hat, Danny.”

“Yes Ma’am. See you later Captain,” he called as he whipped off the hat.

I found my vocal chords again as they were pushing open the door. “Hey Leigh? You are welcome,” I told her.

**

Just over a month later I got a text message as I was shopping for groceries. ‘ _I took your advice. Thanks Captain._ ’

Not long later I got a text from Lukas. ‘ _So I just found out one of your teammates is transferring to Inter too, and while I am super happy about there being another German speaker on the team, will you please let me know if we hate this Shaqiri guy?_ ’

I stifled a chuckle as an idea took shape. I scrolled through my contacts and dialed a number I never had before. “Hey Leigh? Do you think you could get me a ticket to one of the Inter games?”

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: There is are 2 more planned pieces to this requested puzzle, not that they were all requested by the same person, but I decided to tie them all together before I started to write them. The next part will be out soon and will be from Leigh’s POV. Let me know what you think, and if you want to request a fic just let me know.


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